Nigerian Stocks Close 0.28% Lower as Low Trade Persists

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) began the month of September on a negative note on Tuesday, closing 0.28 percent lower.

It was also the first trading day of the week following the 2-day public holiday declared last week by the Federal Government to mark Sallah on Friday and Monday.

Business Post reports that the volume of shares exchanged at the market today finished lower, though the value improved.

At the close of transactions, a total of 230 million shares were moved in 4,188 deals worth N4.8 billion in contrast to 266.5 million units traded in 2,263 deals last Thursday valued at N4 billion.

It was observed that banking stocks attracted greater interests from investors with Access Bank exchanging 63.3 million shares worth N606.9 million.

UBA sold 27.6 million shares at N246.9 million, while Zenith Bank exchanged 17.8 million shares worth N413.6 million.

FBN Holdings traded 14.8 million shares valued at N85.4 million, and Stanbic IBTC transacted 13 million shares worth N498.6 million.

On the price movement chart, Seplat lost N24.52k of its share value to close at N465.98k per share, while Total Plc shed N12 to settle at N233 per share.

Lafarge fell by N2.84k to finish at N54.14k per share, 7up declined by N2 to end at N90 per share, and Julius Berger slumped by N1.62k to finish at N30.87k per share.

At the other end, Guinness Nigeria led the gainers’ log after posting an impressive performance in its 2017 full year earnings today, adding N3.77k to its share value to settle at N79.27k per share.

It was followed by Mobil, which advanced by N2.39k to close at N167.50k per share, and Conoil, which grew by N1.30k to end at N29 per share.

Forte Oil progressed by 70k to wrap the day at N49.70k per share, while FBN Holdings expanded by 28k to finish at N5.98k per share.

A look at the market indicators showed the All-Share Index (ASI) going down by 100.7 points to close at 35,403.92 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N34.7 billion to finish at the day N12.2 trillion.

Also, the year-to-date return trimmed to 31.74 percent, while the market breadth closed negative with 21 advancing stocks and 25 decliners.

Business Post predicts that the bearish sentiments will likely continue tomorrow despite Nigeria getting out of recession, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) today.